Diane Johnson

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15 Reasons You Should Be Watching "Black-ish"

Black-ish is ABC's newest family-oriented sitcom and people are calling it, "the best show about a modern family, since well, you know...". But it's really not anything like Modern Family. It's an entirely different family, with their own dynamic. It's honest, funny, goofy, and just really great television. It's a show we feel like we've been waiting years for and we think you'll agree.
1. Black-ish has introduced us to the smart-lazy hero, Andre "Dre" Johnson:
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ABC/mayaslewis.tumblr.com
2. And his smarter-and-sassier-than-everyone daughter Diane:
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3. Then there's Zoey, who holds her own as the family's coolest member:
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4. This show has no problem tackling real-life circumstances that we might feel awkward discussing:
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5. Dre and his wife Rainbow (Bo) have very different parenting styles, and that works well for them:
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6. The show is not afraid to take friendly pokes at race:
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ABC/dopey.tumblr.com
7. It also calls out the fact that people are trying to change what Urban means:
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8. Really, all races and stereotypes are on the table to be mocked equally:
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9. Dre's dad, Pops, is the hilarious, way-too-honest grandfather we all wish we had:
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10. They explain the importance of "the nod":
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ABC/yugottabesonice.tumblr.com
"So no matter who you are or where you're at, it's your duty to give“the nod.” Even in the most extreme of circumstances, we always found a way to let each other know, “I see you, bruh.”"
11. They tackle the ridiculous things teenagers want, like Junior's unusual request for a non-Jewish person:
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12. Dre and Junior try to navigate the father-son talk:
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13. Dre teaches everyone, if you didn't already know, the wrong way to get your kids some friends:
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14. This show proves that the family that dances together, stays together:
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ABC/yugottabesonice.tumblr.com
15. Also, that same motto applies to Halloween:
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It's only 6 episodes into the first season, but we're already hooked. It has clever writing, a wonderfully talented cast that ranges in all ages, and it's a show that is not afraid to put everything out there. Black-ish airs on ABC, Wednesday nights at 9:30.
Have you tuned into Black-ish yet? Tweet us why you love the show!
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Actress Diane Kruger celebrated her 38th birthday on TV on Monday night (14Jul14) when she was presented with a cake during an appearance on America's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The Inglourious Basterds beauty blew out the single candle and dug into the sweet treat on air. She was also gifted with a DVD of her favourite U.S. sitcom, The Nanny, after confessing she's a big fan of its lead star, saying, "I'm obsessed with Fran Drescher. I'm serious. Honestly, if I met her, I might not be able to say hi. She's my biggest, next to (Miami Vice actor) Don Johnson, she's my biggest celebrity crush!"

DC Comics
Between Marvel's ever-expanding cinematic universe, Sony's tangled web of Amazing Spider-Man characters, and the way Fox keeps rolling out X-Men films, Hollywood is in the middle of a veritable superhero onslaught. However, NikkiFinke.com reports that things are only just getting started, with DC and Warner Bros. planning to roll out their own interconnected series very soon. In addition to Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the studios are working on a Justice League movie and solo films for Wonder Woman and Shazam, as well as a Flash/Green Lantern crossover and yet another outing for Superman.
Warner Bros. was set to officially unveil the plans at this year's Comic-Con, along with new details about the upcoming Sandman film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a tentative release schedule that would take them well into 2018. According to the site, the studio has been working on this for some time, and even delayed the release of Batman Vs. Superman so that it would better fit with the rest of the planned universe. With so many films lined up for such a short period of time (expect at least two DC films a year for the next four years) it can be a little difficult keeping track of everything on the slate. We've run down everything we know about the upcoming DC/Warner Bros. universe, along with the reasons you should get excited about them. Although it is kind of hard to be enthusiastic about two Man of Steel sequels.
Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice Release Date: May 2016 Who's In It: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Laurence Fishburne will all reprise their roles from Man of Steel, and will be joined by Ben Affleck as Batman, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. What We Know About It: Plot details are still being kept under wraps, but it will feature Superman facing off against a "older, worn-down" Batman in some capacity. The film's also supposed to be both a follow up to Man of Steel and a prequel for the Justice League movie, so Wonder Woman and Cyborg will be involved in some capacity, although thus far it's not known how much screen time they'll get. How Excited We Are For It: Anything that gets fans as riled up as this film has is definitely worth seeing. As of right now, though, it's hard to predict if it will live up to all of its hype.
Shazam Release Date: July 2016 Who He Is: Originally known as Captain Marvel, Shazam is the altar ego of sports reporter Billy Baston, who was given magical powers by an ancient wizard who wanted Billy to help people. When he says "Shazam!" he is transformed into a super-human with powers from six mythical heroes: wisdom from King Solomon, strength from Hercules, stamina from Atlas, the power of Zeus, courage from Achilles, and speed from Mercury. What We Know About It: Not much. A Shazam film was rumored to be in the works until recently, when Peter Segal (who was on board to direct) left the project, citing the difficulties of turning Shazam's story into a film. Nobody was expecting it to turn up on the schedule, especially with such a close release date. How Excited We Are For It: It's hard to be excited about a project that nobody saw coming, but we're definitely intrigued to find out more. However, if this is indeed the secret DC character that The Rock has been hinting at recently, we're officially on board.
Sandman Release Date: December 2016 Who's In It: Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to produce the project, and is also rumored to be starring as Dream. What We Know About It: To start, it has nothing to do with the other comic book movies that Warner Bros. is working on. The film, which is based on Neil Gaiman's wildly popular series, has been in development for 25 years, but this time Gaiman is involved in production, which is a good sign. However, the script is being written by David Goyer, which could cancel out some of that goodwill. How Excited We Are For It: Cautiously optimistic. The release date is the biggest sign of confidence we've seen so far, but there are still too many elements up in the air for us to to completely drop our guards.
Justice League Release Date: May 2017 Who's In It: Thus far, we're guaranteed to see Affleck, Cavill, and Gadot as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, respectively, as well as Ray Fisher as Cyborg. The studio has yet to cast the remaining team members, although Matt Damon and Jason Momoa have both been rumored for Aquaman. What We Know About It: It will be DC and Warner Bros' answer to The Avengers, so expect lots of action, explosions, and angst. It should also be connected to Batman Vs. Superman in some way, but that's all that's been revealed thus far. How Excited We Are: We're going to have to see Batman Vs. Superman first, but we're definitely looking forward to this one. Hopefully, the studio will use this as an opportunity to add some much-needed levity to the dark, gritty universe they're currently building. What's the point of a superhero film without the wisecracks?
Wonder Woman Release Date: July 2017 Who's In It: The only one we can say for sure is Gadot as Diana Prince a.k.a. Princess Diana of Themyscira a.k.a. Wonder Woman.What We Know About It: Next to nothing. DC and Warner Bros have wavered for so long on making a Wonder Woman movie that we have no idea what to expect, although we do have very high hopes. How Excited We Are For It: Are you kidding? We'd buy tickets now if we could. Fans have been clamoring for a Wonder Woman movie for so long that it's hard not to be a little skeptical about its chances of actually making it into theaters, but until we hear otherwise, we're just going to enjoy knowing that a Wonder Woman film is finally on its way.
Flash/Green Lantern Release Date: December 2017Who's In It: Though the DC universe technically already has a Green Lantern in Ryan Reynolds, they haven't hinted at whether he'll be reprising his role, or if they're looking in a new direction (probably the latter).What We Know About It: Again, next to nothing. We don't even know which iteration of the Green Lantern will be part of the team. It would make sense to continue with Hal Jordan, but if they're looking to differentiate this Lantern from Reynolds', they might be better off choosing a different alter ego. How Excited We Are For It: Not very. The last Green Lantern film was terrible, so we don't have a lot of confidence that this one will be better, and we can get our Flash fix with the upcoming CW show, so we won't be marking our calendars for this one just yet.
Man of Steel 2 Release Date: May 2018 Who's In It: Cavill, of course. We also wouldn't be surprised to see Adams, Fishburne, and Diane Lane come back, since they've all signed on for Batman Vs. Superman... unless any of them faces a grim fate in that film, which isn't too unlikely.What We Know About It: It will most likely deal directly with the events of Batman Vs. Superman and Justice League, although we are suprised to hear of this "official" Man of Steel sequel, considering Warner Bros. has been billing Batman Vs. Superman as such for some time now. How Excited We Are For It: We're in favor of anything that promises to get the memory of the first Man of Steel out of our head. Here's a chance to fix your mistakes, Warner Bros.

Ivan Nikolov/WENN
Rihanna proved she was the right choice for an icon prize from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) as she turned heads in a sheer dress during the organisation's annual awards show on Monday (02Jun14).
The Diamonds hitmaker sparkled on the red carpet at Lincoln Center in New York City when she showed up to the ceremony wearing a see-through beaded gown with nothing but nude panties underneath, exposing her bare breasts and butt. When accepting the 2014 Fashion Icon honour, she said, "As long as I can remember, fashion has been my defence mechanism. As a child I remember thinking, she can beat me but she cannot beat my outfit... You will never be stylish if you don't take risks."
Top designer/director Tom Ford was given the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement award, while actresses-turned-fashion moguls Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen took the Accessories Designer of the Year award for their line, The Row. The CFDA Awards were hosted by director/screenwriter John Waters, with fashion-forward stars like Lupita Nyong'o, Blake Lively, Marion Cotillard making their own style statements on the red carpet.
Models Karlie Kloss, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Chanel Iman, and designers Diane von Furstenberg and Betsey Johnson were also on hand to honour the best in fashion over the past year.

Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o turned heads at the 2014 Costume Institute Gala in New York on Monday (05Apr14) as she arrived in a feathery mesh design from Prada. The 12 Years a Slave star, who last month (Apr14) was named People magazine's Most Beautiful woman, topped off her latest red carpet outfit for this year's fashion Oscars with a jewelled headband.
Early arrivals at the annual Metropolitan Museum of Art bash included John Legend and his model wife Chrissy Teigen in Ralph Lauren Collection, Latina stars Jessica Alba and Selena Gomez both in Diane Von Furstenberg and Jessica Pare and Zoe Saldana in Michael Kors. Fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker was stunning as always in a flowing Oscar De La Renta gown, while Nicole Richie and Rita Ora both opted for edgy DKNY designs.
Other fashionable attendees at this year's Met Gala included Anna Kendrick, Rachel McAdams, Suki Waterhouse, Hailee Steinfeld, Dakota Johnson and Kylie Minogue. Meanwhile, British singer Lily Allen, who wore a flattering silver and grey Chanel Couture gown to the fashion world's big night, made the most of her evening with the stars, snapping selfies with the likes of Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Ora and designer Donatella Versace and posting the photos on her Instagram.com page.

Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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Whether superfans of the trilogy like it or not, the lead roles in the Fifty Shades of Grey film adaptation have been cast: Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson are the new Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. This casting decision made huge waves, as many folks had their hearts set on other actors, but Hunnam and Johnson are capable talents who can absolutely bring these roles to life. Still, there's the question of the supporting cast, which could also make a big difference in how the film pans out. Christian and Ana are obviously a huge deal, but there are many minor characters in the books that affect the steamy story of love, sex, and BDSM. Based on character descriptions and our desire to see...well, more hot people in the cast, here are our choices for the supporting cast of this highly-anticipated movie.
Blake Lively as Kate Kavanaugh
We so see Gossip Girl Blake Lively as Anastasia's blonde bombshell of a BFF. Gorgeous, outspoken, and a little bit overbearing -- we think Blake could pull it off.
Jay Hernandez as José Rodriguez
Not everyone will remember this cutie, but Jay Hernandez first caught a lot of eyes when he starred alongside Kirsten Dunst in Crazy/Beautiful. Since then he landed a role on the popular ABC series Nashville, and we'd love to see himback on the big screen as Ana's hot photographer friend.
Paul Walker as Elliot Grey
Christian Grey's older brother needs be played by someone who's just as good-looking, but a little less intense. And since he actually ends up with Kate Kavanaugh (our Blake Lively), then we had to think of someone who would pair up well with her. Enter Paul Walker. The Fast &amp; Furious actor adds a little more eye candy to the cast (no such thing as too much of that), and he and Hunnam could totally pass as brothers from another mother.
Diane Lane as Elena "Mrs. Robinson" Lincoln
Mrs. Robinson is the beautiful, dominating older woman who turned young Christian Grey into the complicated (and somewhat frightening) man he eventually becomes. There's only one woman who we think could pull off this sexual and somewhate severe role. Diane Lane...but only if she channels her character from Unfaithful.
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More:Charlie Hunnam Talks '50 Shades' Chemistry With Dakota JohnsonSam Taylor-Johnson Directing '50 Shades Of Grey'Fantasy Casting J.K. Rowling's Detective Novel
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German actress Diane Kruger is still mortified by her behaviour at this year's (13) Vanity Fair post-Oscars party after meeting her childhood crush Don Johnson for the first time. The Inglourious Basterds star turned down the chance to visit Quentin Tarantino on the set of Django Unchained and meet Johnson because she wasn't sure how she'd react to coming face to face with the man she once idolised, and she admits she wasn't prepared for the encounter at the party.
She says, "I'm standing with Quentin and (Inglourious Basterds co-star) Christoph Waltz and Quentin goes, 'Look who's here...' and I turned around and it's Don Johnson with his wife, and I immediately start crying... I had a few too many, but it was so embarrassing.
"I was like, 'Oh my God, you're Don Johnson... I love you for your song and I have it on my phone...' and he's so embarrassed and his wife is so embarrassed for me. My boyfriend is like, 'You need to stop talking now'."
"He (Johnson) actually had to say, 'I'm walking away now'."
Kruger appeared on U.S. late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday (09Jul13) and revealed Johnson's 1986 album Heartbeat was a big part of her youth - she had her first kiss at 13 while the album's title track was playing.

Hollywood's ideas are cyclical. Example: even though Season 8 of 24 was touted as the final season, there were always rumors that the show would return for a feature film outing. That never happened, but franchise don't disappear: 24 is set to come back next season in limited series form. With Touch cancelled by Fox, Kiefer Sutherland is set to return as counterintelligence operative Jack Bauer in a 13-episode run, reports EW. Does that mean 24 is dropping the real time approach? Will the series even take place after the events of Day 8? Who or what is going on?!
Breathe, 24 fans. There's still lots of time on the clock before solid details regarding the series surface. No need to strap the series writers to any chairs and torture them with broken lamp parts just yet.
In anticipation of the new 24 saga, we've wrangled 10 characters from the show's past we're crossing our fingers return. Since anything goes during an episode of the show, we let our imaginations fly:
Aaron Pierce
The secret service agent became a fan favorite simply because he survived longer than most of the other characters on the show. While he didn't appear in 24's final season, Pierce (played by actor Glenn Morshower) evolved from background White House player to ass-kicking government agent up until Day 7 (in that season, he uncovered an assassination plot tied to the President's daughter, Olivia Taylor). If there's a Presidential character in 24's limited run, then Pierce needs to step back up to guard them.
Bill Buchanan
Unlike Secret Serviceman Pierce, many of 24's most lovable characters kicked the bucket at some point over the course of the show's run. But for every silent countdown indicating the demise of a series regular, we got a double gasp-worthy moment of a dead character's return. So depending on when the new series takes place — it could be a "day" in-between previous seasons — or how wacky it's willing to get, killed off cast members could be resurrected. So we suggest bringing back Bill Buchanan, actor James Morrison's CTU agent who went out with a bang saving Jack's life. He was kind of a wooden suit early on Day 4, but a bit of scruff turned Bill into the wise sage of the CTU team.
Mike Novick
A little bit smarmy, a little bit heartfelt, and a look that is reminiscent of Dick Cheney, Jude Ciccolella's Mike Novick managed to appear in the first two seasons, fall off the grid, then reappear on President Charles Logan's staff in Season 4. Mike's always played both sides of the field. Any good 24 season requires absurd amounts of shadiness and that's the void Mike easily fills. Especially if…
Charles Logan
… a certain diabolical ex-President returns to the cast. Look, I know Logan (Gregory Itzin) shot himself in the head at the tail end of Season 8, but the EMTs explained that he would survive (albeit with a bit of brain damage). Logan is 24's version of Hannibal Lecter: manipulative, soft-spoken, and evil at the core. He can help, he can hinder, but most importantly he takes any mild-mannered thriller plot and turns it on his head. Who knows how his recovery went post-attempted suicide, but it's safe to say Logan could return even crazier than before — and who wouldn't want to see that?
Nina Meyers
Another deceased 24 character I'll believe is dead when she doesn't return for the new limited series. Nina is wicked, and while all the CTU ladies are staples of the show (we love you, Chloe), few chew up scenery like Sarah Clarke's Nina. We haven't seen her since Day 3 when Jack shot her at point blank range. An intelligent person would believe that's it for Nina — but we've watched too much 24 to fully embrace logic. Either Fast Five style reveal that Nina survived the gunshot or set 24 2in an alternative timeline. Find a way, creators.
Sherry Palmer
Speaking of 24 ladies who give the hulking gents a run for their money, how about reviving Sherry Palmer for another turn in the White House? Setting the limited series within the existing timeline might be the only way to work Penny Johnson Jerald back into the terrorist plotting tapestry of the show, but it's worth it to get the scheming First Lady back (and if she comes packaged with David Palmer, great). Sherry added a Manchurian Candidate touch to the early seasons of 24, an element of paranoia lost down the road when the series relied on atomic bombs and global horrors.
Bearded Jack Bauer
Given: Jack Bauer will return for the new 24 season. Less of a given: He'll return looking like he did in the first episodes of Season 6, after being kidnapped and tortured by the Chinese for 20 months. I love me some Jack Bauer power hour, but I also like broken Jack — and I much prefer a guy on the run, a guy under pressure, a guy with nothing left to lose except the mission he puts on himself, then variations of the "troubled Jack" persona that feel forced (see: heroin addiction). When 24picks back up, here's hoping Jack has had his a** kicked. Severely.
Diane Huxley
Will Jack have a love interest in the new 24 series? He may not have time, but just in case, let's bring back Connie Britton's Season 5 character to add a bit of hope to an often bleak landscape. As someone who never really like Audrey Raines, Jack's longtime, post-wife gal pal, I'd be happy to see Jack emotionally reconnect with Diane (even if it's an excuse to add Britton's vibrance to the new series).
Behrooz Araz
Behroooooooooz. The son of a sleeper cell ringleader just wanted to make out with his hot blonde girlfriend, but nooooooo — Dad had to involve him in his plot to blow up nuclear power plants. At the end of Day 4, Behrooz was captured by evildoer Habib Marwan never to be seen again. His conclusion is one of the series big question marks (although answered in non-canonical deleted scenes) and he could make a great hero or villain in the revival of the show.
The Cougar
Run, Kim.
OK, maybe we don't need the infamous Season Two feline to literally make a reappearance in the new run of 24, but we do want something likeKim's run in with a cougar to go down. Levity is important. And adorable, if it comes in the form of a mountain cat.
Bonus: Saul from Homeland
The hit Showtime drama shares a creator with 24 in Howard Gordon, who might just be mad enough to collide his two hit properties into one madcap, Taliban-chasing romp. Jack teaming up with Carrie? Perhaps Mandy Patinkin's Saul could bring them together….
Who do you think should come back for 24 2.0? Voice your returning cast demands in the comments.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
More: Will Fox Bring '24' Back to Life?Details on Fox's Cancellation of 'Touch' Who Is the Best TV President?
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Sightseers has your eyes from start to finish. From the opening shots of a moaning old woman, clutching fast to the soul of her adult-child daughter Tina (Alice Lowe), through the visual spectacles that follow Tina and her boyfriend Chris (Steve Oram) on their cross-country caravan tour, you're engaged. And quite often in the unsettling feature, this works against you. Ben Wheatley's film, conceived and written by his two starring players, doesn't want you slump comfortably into a comical story about a road trip around Great Britain. What it wants, instead, is to jar you inside and out.
After its soft-spoken introduction, the film shifts abuptly to a platform of physical and emotional violence: validating everything that Tina's sadistically overbearing mother (Eileen Davies) warned her about, Chris transforms from a good-natured romantic to a sociopathic murderer. Not a metaphor, the dude starts killing people left and right, with provocations as slight as littering, heated arguments, and judgmental eye-rolls. The murders prove a cinematic outlier — embedded in far greater realism than the likes of Tarantino, sensationalized well beyond the average death you'd see in an action-adventure. You're pulled in full force to every one of Chris' prideful, wrathful murders, begging for the scene to change back to a tepid conversation between the fellow joureyers.
But then, even these scenes become scathing. Although we're chauffered through some of Chris' darker turns at close proximity to the mad explorer, our real journey is with Tina, whose horror and amazement with her beau's deeds are all so morbidly steeped in her desperate need to feel good about herself. Tina's arc has her fleeing the grasp of her mother for the first time to pioneer a bout of self-efficacy, unprepared for the hurdles that amount when Chris rears his bizarre hobby, or undertakes an adulterous transgression with an intoxicated bachelorette partier.
Every ounce of Tina, from the first seconds of the film throughout, is drenched in a lonely, anxious pain. Her proverbial road trip offers up countless speed bumps on the path to a gratification she seems to have dreamt up or seen on television, never having received any sort of kindness from her mom, whose only affections appear to have been reserved for the pet terrier that Tina inadvertently killed one year prior. And as we watch her struggle and shrivel at the whim of her own tormented, self-unaware psyche, it's almost too much to handle.
But luckily, Wheatley makes Sightseers manageable. Operating alongside all the darkness and pain, the galaxy of loathing that is this story, is an odd air of color. Shot like a marvelous picture book, the movie doesn't marry its subject matter with gritty aesthetic, but with a bright, beautiful visual spectrum. Even the smaller, personal scenes look pristine — the arguments inside the camper are terrifically staged, the mobile cocoon of Chris' eccentric pal a delight for the eye.
And of course, the comedy. In spite of yourself, in spite of the goings on onscreen, you'll laugh at Sightseers. You'll laugh at Chris' outbursts, knowing full well that they are building toward certain horror. You'll laugh at Tina's misgivings, completely aware that they stem from a lifelong solitude and self-loathing. Somehow, the movie manages darkness and brimming light at the same time. When you're laughing, you're not forgetting about the turmoil, you're just accepting it.
Again, the only shortcoming of the film might be that it is at times too powerful. With such a visceral experience carrying throughout, it lands in a conclusion that seems to spring from, and lead to, nowehere. We're hard-pressed to figure out what we're meant to have learned, understood, or even experienced in Sightseers. For some, this will translate as a flaw — if you like to walk away from a movie with new thoughts and ideas, you'll find frustration in Sightseers. But if you're content just feeling, vividly, for an hour, and leaving the theater a little bit shaken as a result, then you'll have a fun, albeit tremendously upsetting, time with Sightseers.
Follow Michael Arbeiter on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter
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